The fresh berry season is upon us – yipppeeee!

Growing fresh berries may be the most exciting way to gather the little yummies – especially if you have a local bear that becomes familiar with your crop! Until our current house, I’ve always had some berry bushes and enjoyed the picked-off-the-bush freshness of berries for breakfast AND dessert! I tried container strawberries on the deck in the last couple of years, but it was such an unbelievable chore to keep them from the critters, that I gave up, surrendered my succulent beauties to some very happy chipmunks and whoever else was enjoying them.

I love to buy fresh local berries or even pick them myself from some of the U-Pick farms in my area (Northern New Jersey). Those wonderful farmer’s markets cropping up in a neighborhood near you will be brimming with wonderful fresh berries. LocalHarvest.org has a wonderful Farmer’s Market locator.

Knowing that berries often get the worst kind of pesticides sprayed on them, I’m careful to find out how they’ve been grown. The Organic Center has posted and published a handy free pocket guide that helps understand when you should only buy organic and when it is okay to buy non-organic fruits and veggies – the Organic Essentials pocket guide.

Here are a few ways I enjoy berries . . .

1. Green Diva Meg’s Special Berry BreakfastI eat this almost daily during the week – bring my glass container to work and savor it during a morning break (I hate eating first thing in the morning).

*As you may have guessed, I like to make my own vanilla falvored yogurt, which cuts down on a lot of suger. I try to buy low-sugar granola too and sometimes, I cut out the granola all together, which cuts out a bunch of sugar, carbs, and fat . . . not often enough!

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the vanilla into the yogurt thoroughly, then add stevia or sweetner and mix well again. Then add granola (or not), fresh berries (cutting strawberries into bite-sized pieces, obviously), ground/roasted flaxseeds, and enjoy!

3. Elegant Fresh Strawberry DessertThis one comes from my mother, who was well-known and loved for her dinner parties back in the 60s and 70s, when dinner parties were a more formal and regular occurance (at least in our household).

Wash the strawberries, but keep the green tops (unless they are yucky) and keep them whole. If you have enough small individual bowls for each guest, give them one each of a couple of tablespoons of sour cream and brown sugar. Small parties/groups can just share. The goal is to dip the strawberry into the sour cream, then into the brown sugar and eat the whole thing (double dipping isn’t encouraged in a shared environment unless you are all very close and comfortable with that sort of thing).

4. Old Faithful – Berry Fruit SaladI like to mix up all kinds of berries (color is important – I’m not sure why, but it is – so, I like to make sure I have some red berries AND blue/black berries).

About the author /

(aka Megan McWilliams Bouchard) is the founder of The Green Divas and GDGD Radio Network (the first green and healthy living radio network on earth for the earth). She's the producer and host of the popular Green Divas Radio Show, one of the first radio shows dedicated to sharing low-stress ways to live a deeper shade of green. Green Diva Meg is a well-known green living expert and media personality.